Deborah Meier is a visionary teacher, author, and founder of successful small schools in New York City and Boston. Harry Boyte, senior scholar at Augsburg College, is founder of the youth civic empowerment initiative Public Achievement and a leader in the movement to democratize higher education.

Most panelists agreed that there is a yawning gap between the "reform" policies of the moment and the consensus among scholars who have devoted their lives to studying the issues. How to bridge that gap?